Astana Pro Team rider Vincenzo Nibali signed a contract extension on Thursday in Kazakhstan’s capital city that will see the Giro d’Italia champion remain with the squad through 2016.

Astana Pro Team General Manager Alexandr Vinokurov and Vice President of Kazakhstan’s Cycling Federation Darkhan Amanovich Kaletaev announced at a press conference in Astana that the Sicilian rider would set his sights next on the second half of the 2013 season, with an eye on the 2014 Tour de France.

“We are very pleased to prolong our contract with Vincenzo Nibali today in Astana, and look forward to supporting his clear-eyed start to the Vuelta a Espana in August and a strong run at the World Championships in Firenze at the end of September,” said VInokurov.

“To have a great champion on Astana Pro Team ahead of Expo 2017 in Kazakhstan’s capital will help to broadcast around the globe that our cycling federation has world-class talent to go with its world-class ambitions. Next year we will look to bring Vincenzo to the 2014 Tour de France,” Vinokurov said.

Astana Pro Team riders Valerio Agnoli, Paolo Tiralongo, Alessandro Vanotti, Dmitriy Gruzdev, and Andrey Zeits are all currently in Astana, together with Nibali and Vinokurov, to meet with fans, supporters and Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev following their successful Giro d’Italia campaign last month.